Bing adds separate warnings for malware and phishing

Microsoft has changed the way it displays malware warnings in its search engine Bing to help users distinguish between the various forms of attacks that can appear in its searches.

The company has decided to replace its generic warning for websites that could be potentially dangerous for users, and instead offer separate warnings for sites that are known to contain malware and phishing sites.

Now when users go to a site known for spreading malware they will get the following message:

If a site is known to be responsible for phishing scams Bing will display this message instead:

Bing has also updated the Webmaster dashboard with a new interface that makes it simpler to tell why a site was flagged. Any link that displays either the phishing or malware warning will now appear as highlighted.

In its announcement, Microsoft further explained the reasons behind these new threat messages: “By refining the generic malware warning, Bing now gives more details about the type of threat the user is facing. Furthermore, this improvement enables webmasters to clean their site quicker by having stronger insights into why their site was flagged.”

What malware really is, is often a difficult question for consumers to answer and by clearly distinguishing between malware and phishing, Bing has made it easier for its users to differentiate between the two.